Printing press



March 29, 1960 J. R. BAUMGARTNER 2,930,319

PRINTING PRESS Filed June 6, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IIIIIJ .131 l lll llllllllllli IN V EN TOR.

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March 29, 1960 J. R. BAUMGARTNER 2,930,319

PRINTING PRESS Filed June 6, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 d IQ a INVENTOR. M B l Qmniw) fmo& I

March 29, 1960 J. R. BAUMGARTNER PRINTING PRESS Filed June 6, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 t i m 2% 3 .1 9 l (.L I

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St te PRINTING PRESS John R. Baumgartner, Milwaukee, Wis., assign'or to Mercury Engineering Corporation, Milwaukee, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Application June 6, 1957, Serial No. 663,939

Claims. (Cl. 101-,-248) The invention relates to printing presses of the multicylinder type.

In multi-cylinder printing presses, that is, a printing press using a plurality of printing cylinders as for multicolor printing, it is desirable to provide mechanism for adjusting the plate cylinders relative to their drives so as to obtain proper registry of the printed matter on the paper web or other receiving surface. The main object of the present invention is to provide mechanism associated with each plate cylinder of a multi-cylinder press so that its angular position relative to its drive and hence relative to the other plate cylinders may be adjusted to secure proper registry of the printed matter. While only one printing unit of the multi-cylinder press has been shown in detail, it is to be understood that similar adjusting mechanisms for the other plate cylinders are provided.

The invention further consists in the several features hereinafter described and more particularly defined by claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one the plate cylinder adjusting units embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation view of said adjusting unit;

Fig. 3 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the broken line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detailed vertical sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, an adjusting unit for one of the plate cylinders has been shown in full, and adjusting units for other plate cylinders similar to the one shown have been indicated in part by the letters A and B.

Each printing unit includes the usual plate cylinder 5 and its impression cylinder 6 suitably journalled in the frame 7 of the machine and as herein shown carries a gear 8 which in known manner meshes with a gear (not shown) on the shaft of the impression cylinder 6. An extension 9 of the shaft for the plate cylinder carries a gear 10 that meshes with a gear 11 adapted to be driven as hereinafter described from a drive shaft 12 for all the printing units.

The drive shaft 12 is formed of a series of direct connected shaft sections 13, one of which, as shown in Fig. 4, is journalled in ball bearing journals 14 in a housing 15 and is provided with a longitudinally extending keyway 16 to receive a key 17 carried by or secured to a worm 18 encircling a portion of said drive shaft so that said worm revolves with said shaft but may be moved lengthwise relative thereto.

A longitudinally adjustable sleeve 19 is operatively connected to said worm by ball bearing journals 20, the outer races of which are fixed to the recessed portion 21 of said sleeve and the inner races of which are clamped between an annular shoulder 22 of the sleeve, including a part of said key 17, and clamping nuts 23 mounted on a threaded portion24 of said worm. The sleeve has a threaded portion 25 that engages the threaded portion 26 of a sleeve 27 fixedly mounted in the housing so that turning of said sleeve 19 will through'its threaded connection with said fixed sleeve 27 cause a longitudinal movement of said sleeve 19 and hence the worm 18 connected thereto.

For turning the sleeve 19, it is provided with an externally disposed gear portion 28 that meshes with a long toothed gear 29 mounted on a manually rotatable shaft 30 journalled in the housing 15 and operatively connected by a universal joint connection 31 with one end of a shaft 32 whose other end has a universal joint connection 33 with a shaft 34 journalled in a fixed frame bracket 35 and carrying a bevel gear 36 meshing with a bevel gear 37 on a shaft 38 extending transversely of and suitably journalled in the frame of the machine and carrying a hand wheel 39 as indicated in Fig. 1.

The worm 18 is in constant mesh with a worm wheel 49 which, as shown in Fig. 3, is secured byra key 41 and sets of clamping nuts 42 to a shaft 43 journalled in bearings 44 and 45 in the sides of the housing 15, said shaft carrying the gear 11 previously referred to so that rotation of the drive shaft previously referred to will through the worm. 18, worm wheel 40, shaft 43, and gears 10 and 11 rotate the printing or plate cylinder 5 and also through the geared connection between said plate cylinder 5 and the impression cylinder 6 rotates this plate cylinder. The rotation of the above parts is permitted through the journalled connection of the sleeve 19 and the worm previously described in any set position of adjustment of said sleeve 19 and worm 18 relative to the drive shaft.

If on the set up of the press it is found that one of the printing units is not in proper registry relative to one or more of the other printing units, then the turning of the shaft 38 through the operators turning of the handwheel 39 will through gears 37 and 36, shaft 34, universally connected shaft 32, shaft 30, and gears 29 and 2S rotate the sleeve 19 and thereby move it and the worm 18 lengthwise relative to the fixed sleeve 27 and the section 13 of the drive shaft to the desired adjusted position. Since the worm 18 is in mesh with the worm wheel 40, lengthwise movement of the worm 18 will act to produce a rotary or angular adjustment of the shaft 43 relative to the drive shaft and consequently through the gears 10 and 11 an angular adjustment of the plate cylinder 5 relative to drive shaft and consequently an angular adjustment of this plate cylinder relative to other plate cylinders of the printing press so that by providing an adjustment mechanism of the type above described for each plate cylinder unit, all of the printing units of the press may be brought into proper printing register with the web to be printed.

It is to be noted that the threaded connection between the sleeve 26 and the threaded portion of the sleeve 19 is concentric with the shaft 13 so that all thrusts from the worm are taken by this connection in a direct line against the housing.

I desire it to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to any particular form or arrangement of parts except in so far as such limitations are included in the claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a multi-cylinder rotary type printing press having a plurality of printing units, each including a plate cylinder and an impression cylinder, the combination of a common drive shaft for the plate cylinders of each unit, each unit having a housing, gear driven connections between its printing cylinder and said drive shaft in said housing including a worm and worm wheel, means for mounting said worm in driven engagement with said drive shaft while permitting a lengthwise movement of said worm relative thereto to angularly adjust the position of said worm wheel and its associated printing cylin;

der relative to said drive shaft, a sleeve having a journalled connection with said worm and a direct threaded connection, concentric with said shaft, with a fixed part of said housing, a manually operable shaft, a gear on said last named shaft, and a gear on said sleeve meshing with said gear on said shaft and lengthwise movable relative thereto.

2. The pressstructure as defined in claim 1, wherein the fixed part of said direct threaded connection is an externally threaded sleeve concentric with said shaft and projecting inwardly of the outer wall of said housing.

3. In a multi-cylinder rotary type printing press having a plurality of printing units, each including a plate cylinder and an impression cylinder, the combination of a common drive shaft for the plate cylinders of each unit, each unit having a housing, gear driven connections between its printing cylinder and said drive shaft in said housing including a worm and worm wheel, means for mounting said worm in driven engagement with said drive shaft while permitting a lengthwise movement of said worm relative thereto to angularly adjust the position of said worm wheel and its associated printing cylinder relative to said drive shaft, an axially movable sleeve having a journalled connection with said worm, said sleeve also having a threaded connection, concentric with said shaft, with an axially fixed member carried by said housing, and a manually operable shaft having gear means for causing rotation of said axially movable sleeve and consequent axial movement thereof together with said worm.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3 further characterized in that said axially fixed member is a threaded sleeve concentric with said shaft.

5. In a multi-cylinder rotary type printing press having a plurality of printing units, each including a plate cylinder and an impression cylinder, the combination of a common drive shaft for the plate cylinders of each unit, each unit having a housing, gear driven connections between its printing cylinder and said drive shaft in said housing including a worm and worm wheel, means for mounting said worm in driven engagement with said drive shaft while permitting a lengthwise movement of said worm relative thereto to angularly adjust the position of said worm wheel and its associated printing cylinder relative to said drive shaft, an axially movable sleeve having a journalled connection with said worm, said journalled connection preventing relative axial movement between said sleeve and worrn while permitting relative rotation therebetween, said sleeve also having a threaded connection, concentric with said shaft, with an axially fixed sleeve mounted in said housing, a manually rotatable shaft having gear means for causing rotation of said axially movable sleeve and consequent axial movement thereof together with said worm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,973,058 Gangler Sept. 11, 1934 1,979,205 Payne Oct. 30, 1934 2,163,035 Grupe June 20, 1939 2,183,045 Presby Dec. 12, 1939 2,863,387 Hufiman Dec. 9, 1958 

